Staff Reporter Islamabad
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday blamed the Sindh government’s poor governance for the worsening Covid-19 situation in Karachi and Hyderabad, noting that the percentage of vaccinated people in the two cities was low compared to the rest of the country.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad following a meeting of the federal cabinet, Chaudhry said Prime Minister Imran Khan was informed that 35pc of the eligible population in Rawalpindi and Peshawar had been vaccinated, followed by Faisalabad at 28pc and Lahore, Gujranwala, Sialkot and Sargodha at 27pc.
“We do not want to criticise the Sindh government but Karachi and Hyderabad are the most behind in vaccination which is why most [Covid-related] problems are there,” he said. “This is why the Sindh government needs to reflect on its matters and try to improve its governance.”
Criticising the provincial government further, the minister said the Sindh government was “the most behind” when it came to economic figures and performance in various sectors.
Terming the situation “unfortunate”, he said that there was a “lot of concern” because Sindh was a “very important” province. Chaudhry said the
Centre could not “sit back and watch faces”, adding that it was among the rights of the federal government “to bring the provinces’ attention to their governance”.
“We keep bringing the attention of the Sindh government towards its governance.” The purpose of doing so was to bring betterment to the lives of the province’s people, he said.
Last week, the Sindh government had decided to impose a lockdown in the province with a focus on Karachi. The decision was strongly criticised by federal ministaers and Prime Minister Imran Khan.
At the time, Chaudhry had said the Sindh government would not be allowed to impose a complete lockdown in the province as the federal government’s policy on controlling the spread of Covid-19 was crystal clear.
He said that under Article 151 of the Constitution, Pakistan is a single market with the port of Karachi acting as the “jugular vein of its economy”. Any move that could affect the country’s economic lifeline could not be allowed.
The Sindh government had been given a clear message that unilateral decisions could not be allowed in this regard, he said.
